Means for preventing collisions of railway-trains.



No. 676,343. Patented lune u, |901. J. sKoPEc.

MEANS FOB PREVENTINE CULLISIDNS UF RAILWAY TRAINS.

(Application led Apr. 18,1900.) A

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet I.

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No. 676,343. v Patented lune Il, l90l. J. SKOPEC.

MEANS FOR PHEVENTING CULLISIONS 0F RAILWAY TRAINS.

(Application filed Apr. 18, 1900.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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No. 676,343. l Patented :une n, lem.

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MEANS FOR PREVENTING CULLISIJNS 0F RAILWAY TRAINS.

(Application filed Apr. 18, 1900.)

(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

O A ZL l ,EX C i A Lft Il (j z i m 411 1- e m3 o 0 rz 1 E O l 1 Q Il? lINVENTOR lUNITED STATES PATENT Critics.

JOHANN SKOPEG, OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA-HUN GARY.

MEANSA FOR PREVENTING COLLlSlONS OF RAILWAY-TRAINS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 676,343, dated J une11, 1901. Application tiled April 18, 1900. Serial No. 13,344. (Nomodel.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHANN SKOPEC, me-

chanic, a subject of the Emperor of Austria` Hungary, residing atVienna, in the Empire of Austria-Hungary, have invented Improvements inMeans for Preventing Collisions of Railway-Trains, of which thefollowing is a specilication.

The present invention consists of an im# proved means for preventingcollisions of rail- Way-trains and other cars running on one and bystopped automatically and to causerthe steam to be shut off from thecylinder, these acts being accomplished without the ,intervention of theengineer as soon as the trains approach near enough to each other,thereby adverting a collision.

The invention consists in providing each engine or motor-car with asuitable auxiliary motor provided with an electric starting dcvice, theelectric energy required for setting this starting device in motionbeing derived from a source carried by each train, or the current isderived from the station through suitable connectin g-circuits. Theelectric circuit thus provided passes through the coils of anelectromagnet which forms part of the start'- ing device for setting theaforesaid motor in motion and passes thence over a suitablecontact-shoe, which is well insulated from the me-` tallic mass of theengine, to a contact-rail, a movable portion of said motor beingprovided with actuating-pins which act successively on` levers that areconnected with the Whistle or signal, the motor proper of the car orvehicle, and the brakes. The contact-rail is arranged between the twoexisting line-rails, well insulated from themlatter, and consequentlyforms an electricicondu'ctor for the operating-current, thereturn-currenttlowing along the two rails and the metallic mass of theengine. It now a metallic contact is established at any place betweenthe two rails and the contactrail by a second train, the circuit isthereby closed between the engines of the two trains. As the currentpasses through the coils of the electromagnets of the starting devicesthe -two electromagnets of both engines will be excited and attract eacharmature forming part of the starting-and-stopping device of theauxiliary motor, which is thus set in mo'- tion and made to act on themechanism to be manipulated in order to stop the train.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is `a side elevation of asteam-locomotive provided'with means for preventing collisions accordingtothe principle of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a ,rear elevation of a locomotive, showing the interior of thecab. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional side elevation of the operative'partsof the apparatus proper. Fig. 4 is a detail view showing moreparticularly the connection between the operating-levers of theauxiliary motor and the controlling-levers of the steam cylinder and thevalve which leads from the air-compressor to the brakes. Figs. 5 and 6are respectively detail side and plan views of contact-rails forming anelectric conductor.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thedrawings.

Referring to the drawings, A indicates a steam-locomotive of well-knownconstruction, or it may indicate an electric or other motor car,according to the application of my invention.

In carrying the invention into effect a base plate B is fixed Oon thesteam-boiler of the locomotive or in some other suitable position, onwhich an auxiliarymotor is arranged, said motor consisting, in the caseof a steam-locomotive, of an auxiliary steam-cylinder C, in which isguided a piston-rod C' of a piston C2, opcratingin the steam-cylinder.Steam is admitted into the steam-cylinder C by means of a pipe D, whichcommunicates directly with the steam-boiler A. The steam-pipeD isprovided with a cut-'oft valve d, that may be operated by hand by meansof a handelever D', which is actuated in one direction by means of aspring D2, said spring having the tendency to maintain the said valve din open position. The said lever D' is maintained in the position shownin Fig. 3 against the tendency of the spring D2 by means of a secondlever E, which is retained by the mechanism of the electric startingdevice by ineans of a second lever E', which is under the control of athird IOO lever E2, that is provided with an armature e, attracted byan-electromagnet e. Said levers are suitably pivoted to thesupporting-plate B referred to. The lever E2 is held down by a spring e2as long as no current is iiowing through the coils of the electromagnet;but as soon as the electromagnet is excited the armature is attracted,releasing lever E from the lever E2, which in turn is moved in outwarddirection by means of an actuatingspring e2, so as to release its toe e4from the lever E, said lever E being adapted to be thrown in upwardposition by means of a spring e5, so as to release its toe e? from anarm d on the cut-olf valve CZ. The said arm CZ being released, thespring D2 acts on the lever D and opens the valve CZ, so as to admitsteam into the cylinder C. The piston-rod C is caused by the admittedsteam to rise simultaneously with the piston and to transmit its motionto a suitable intermediate mechanism acting on the parts which must bemanipulated in order to stop the train.

In the presentinstance three appliances are required to be brought inactioni. e., the alarm or steam-whistle WV, the throttle-valve V of thesteam-cylinder of the engine, andthe brake X of the train, Whether steamor air. To this end the piston-rod C of the auxiliary motor is providedwith three tappets or pins f, g, and h, which are adapted tosuccessively act upon the forked ends of the actuatinglevers F, G, andH, suitably pivoted to the supporting base-plate B. It will be noticedthat the forks of the levers F, G, and H are successively Widerapart-that is to say, the gaps between the tines or bifurcations are.graduated in size, so that the pinsf, g, and h may successively actupon the levers F, G, and Hin the order named. The lever F is connectedby a suitable pull-cord f with the valve-lever -W of the steam-whistleW, so that the first movement is' to sound the Whistle. The lever G,which controls the steam only, as is shown moreA clearly in Figs. 3 andt, is adapted te engage at its outer end with a suitable bellcrank leveror other equivalent device, such as g', one arm of which lever isadapted to engage with the throttle-lever G of the steam-cylinder. Thethird actuatinglever H is connected by means of a link 71, with abell-crank lever h2, one arm of which is connected by means of a secondlink h2 with the operating-arm 71,4011 the spindle of the 4valve'of theair or steam actuated brakes X.

"It will be assumed that all trains which approach cach other to withinfour hundred yards, Whetherin opposite direction or behind each other,are to be stopped by the automatic devices. 'In this case thecontact-rail, which is not new in itself, but is shown in Figs. 5 and6for the purpose of a clear understanding of the invention, is made outof thin strips of iron of detached sections S S', which are connected bysuitable insulation-strips S2, so thatthe electric current cannot passfrom one section to the other. Consequently, the circuit can only bemade by trains approaching each other, so as to set the apparatus inaction if both trains are running on the identical four hundred yardslength of contactrail.

. In Fig. 2 the circuit is shown in which the electromagnetcis arranged;The circuit comprises a Wire 71;, which includes the battery 71; and isconnected with the coil of the electromagnet e, while another Wire k2 isconnected with the other coil of the said electromagnet and also at asuitable point Withthe metallic mass of the engine. The wire 7c leads ina Asuitable manner to a metallic and well-insulated contact-shoe z',which is suitably ixed on the under part of the locomotive, so as tocontact with the conducting-rail S. The circuit having been closed bythe contact-shoes of two cars or locomotives the steam will be admittedinto the auxiliary motor-cylinder C, as previously described, thereby inturn sounding the steam-whistle through the medium of the lever F,shutting oil the steam from the steam-cylinder through the medium of thelever G, and applying the brakes through the medium of the lever Il.

The time-or the distance within which the train must be pulled up willbe determined by thesize of the orifice through which the steam passesthrough the valve CZ to the cylinder'C. Trains traveling at a low rateof speed may have a small orilice, While fast trains should have alarger orifice in order to be pulled up Wit-hin actually the samedistance as the slow trains. The action of the automatic stoppingarrangement may be arrested at any time by the engineer, so that thetrain need not be stopped. This is effected by depressing the lever D',whereby it is made to again enter the toe e6 of the springactuated leverF., so as to be retained there- IOO by in the position shown in Fig. 3,so that the y steam will again be cut off from the steamcylinder C.

After the train or car has stopped and it is desired to return the partsto their normal position the steam is exhausted from the cylinder C bythe following devices: LL indicate suitable rotary valves provided withL-shaped or angular passages and jou rnaled in suitable valve-casings lZ on the exhaust side of the cylinder C. A steam-passage m leads fromthe lower end of the steam-cylinder C to the valve L', and still anotherpassage m' communicates both with the valve L by means of a duct m2 andwith the valve L by means of a duct m2. The valves are retained normallyinthe position shown in Fig. 3 by means 0f springs n n', actingrespectively onthe levers N N of the valves L L. If now it be desired toexhaust the steam from the cylinder O, the lever N is lowered, therebyopening the valve L and connecting the passage m with the passage m2, sothat the weight of the piston and its rod will' cause the piston toforce the steam under thesame through `the passage m, the passage of thevalve L', the

IIO

duct ms, and the passage' m2 into the upper part of the cylinder C, sothat the steam is transferred from one to the other side of the piston.This having been accomplished the engineer releases the lever N', andthe springs n n' automatically move the valves L L into the positionshown, thereby opening the eX- haust-pipe m4 to the exhaust-passage mand permitting the steam in the upper part of the chamber to escape. Inthe case of trains which are not run by steam, but by electric or othermotive power, this power may be utilized for Working the mechanism to bemanipulated in order to stop the train. If the trains are Worked byelectricity, the auxiliary motor is set in motion as soon as theelectric starting device releases a suitable switch, which is turned bymechanical means'in a similar way to the valve-lever D", whereby thecircuit leading to the motor driving the car is broken and part of thecurrent feeding the latter is conducted to the auxiliary motor, Which onbeing set in motion will act onthe appliances to be manipulated to bringinto action a signaling device or alarm and to actuate the automaticbrake. It is evident that the apparatus may be provided with a recordingdevice of any suitable construction affording means to ascertain Whetherthe apparatus has been in action or not during the journey.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In means forpreventing collisions of railway-trains, the combination of a suitableauxiliary motor, provided with a slide-rod carrying a suitable number oftappets, means for actuating said motor automatically, and a set oflevers connected respectively with the signaling device and the brakemechanism, said actuating-tappets being located at graduallyincreasingdistances from the set of levers, so

as to engage the levers in succession, sub` stantially as set forth.

2. In means for preventing collisions in railway-trains, the combinationof a motor pro- JOHANN SKOPEC,`

Vitnesses:

ALvEsTo S. I-IOGUE, ALBERT BENCKE.

